Barkeep
by Elaine-Fading-Call
Summary: Outlaws, pirates, unwanted folks - Whoever; come to our bar and experience the casual old timer and temperamental me. I'm sure you'll have a blast experiencing karma biting at me by ramming me into the green haired swordsman. Zoro x OC
1. This Barkeep Bites

_Elaine-Fading-Call says:_

Hello all and welcome to my new story to initiate a fresh and new return to this site in hopes of improving my writing more. I'm still trying to get a proper grasp on first person writing, as it is quite difficult trying to make it easy to read and understand from how my OC sees and feels things. This story will just be a starter for me, but I do hope that others will read it and can provide me with any constructive criticism they can give, but please, no flaming. I'm only here to improve my story writing and because I really enjoy fanfiction and anime a little too much.

This will contain romance, though that will show a little later on as far as I can see because this is Zoro we're talking about. Although, after this chapter you may instantly realise what type of relationship the two will have, though it doesn't mean it's going to be just that easy. I do plan to add some twists here and there. Like briefly mentioned beforehand, the writing style may be a little bit dodgy and maybe over-wordy at times, but I'm trying to find a groove in where I find it easy to write.

Umm, oh yeah! The first few chapters are before the storyline even begins, so when Zoro is 18, a year before he meets Luffy. I'm not sure at what age he left the dojo to travel and train to become the worlds best swordsman, so I just set this story a year before the actual One Piece storyline kicks in. Before I spoil how this story will run though, I'll just leave it you.

So if possible, read and review thank you. C:

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, nor will I ever, it respectfully belongs to Eiichiro Oda. I am merely a fan of the anime/manga, so the only thing I own here is my OC characters, the plot and the story I'm writing in total.

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**.Barkeep.**

_...a One Piece fanfiction_

_By Elaine-Fading-Call...  
_

**Chapter O N E**

_"This Barkeep Bites"_

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"FOUL MOUTH BRAT!"

The over-sized pear-shaped drunk diverted his enlarged hand towards me with an extremely terrifying speed that I considered myself profoundly fortunate to have even avoided the rash attempt of assault with a quickly muttered 'uh-oh' and hurried ducking of my body at the last second. The gush of wind that sent my short hair in to a chaos of mass destruction proved that it was indeed a wise decision to have relied on my reflexes when I did.

Regardless of being thankful for avoiding his pursuit of brutal onslaught, my stubbornness and pride as a girl working in such a place wasn't going to let that one go. After all, the moment you cave in to a _drunk_ customer, barbarous pirate or not, a road of being taken advantage of and harsh menial times overcome as pirates' egos rapidly inflate and soon, you're practically their beer maid squeaking out fearful comments under their gaze. And I was _not_ about to let a bunch of rugged outlaws push me around.

I steadied myself with crouching despite the little jolt of pain throbbing in my knees. I was much too focused on the rampaging little guys wielding their pitchforks that sliced and jabbed at just the right negative nerves for me to regard my assailant with a chafed glare.

"Impulsive fruit-loop," I seethed bitterly.

Mr. Pear took a swig of his alcoholic beverage before throwing back his head and barking out an overly exaggerated and extremely obnoxious laugh, "YAHAHA, SO YOU DO HAVE SOME LEVEL OF SKILL!"

I rolled my eyes as I composed myself at my full height of 5'7", appropriately patting down my hurricane-styled hair thanks to the impetuous brute and turning my back to the drunk pirate to regard his loud comment with a more restrained retort on my behalf of _really_ wanting to turn back around and sock him in the face for what he tried to pull previously.

"It's just common sense to avoid being hit, moron."

"WHAT?"

I took the indignant slam on the table that cried under the abrupt impact from where he sat as my cue to high-tail it away from him and slip over the bar where my "_boss_" was nonchalantly cleaning out a few recently washed glasses. Realizing his lack of participation in something that could have had me in a coma, I stared him down for a few moments, mentally willing him to break down and begin excessively worrying for my well-being. But unfortunately, the stubborn nature I upheld was inherited from the old coot, as was my annoying tendency to calmly ignore one's presence when the time calls for it—just like he was currently presenting to me as he finished up on drying the last glass of his pile.

"Oi, jiji." I called to get his attention. "A little consideration and giving me a hand would have been _much _appreciated. I could have been severely hurt!" Expressing my vexed thoughts to him was just my way of teasingly reprimanding him, even though he does tend to comprehend it without any light taunting whatsoever.

He merely sighed, his expression going deadpanned at the glass mirroring his expression in distortion. "If I did that every time you badmouthed the customers I'd lose _my_ customers. Your impudence to the more intoxicated customers who respond brashly suggests that maybe you should watch your tongue and quit acting cool before you lose a body part."

I scoffed despite the truthfulness in his over-wordy words, "It's not entirely my fault that they come here expecting to become some mindless and reckless brute. The moment they asked me to cater their drinks and _then_ have the guts to splutter out complete nonsense and make idiotic attempts at pissing me off, at least in the back of their minds they should have realized what a huge mistake they just made." I sighed, shrugging my shoulders as I leaned against the bar and closed my eyes. "Besides, my "impudence to the more intoxicated customers who respond brashly" is something I've already prepared myself for if karma decides to bite at me for bullying the drunkards. All I'm asking for however, is that it would be a little nice for you to at least have some say in like, "Hey! Knock it off, you young whippersnappers! Don't make me drag you both to the floor by your ears!" I mean, come on!"

I grinned despite the dirty wash towel that made acquaintances with my face.

"Just bite your tongue and go wipe the empty tables, young whippersnapper." He ordered blandly.

I removed the smelly cloth and held it in front of me, pointing at it satirically. "You know, jiji... A _clean_ cloth should be used for cleaning. I'm not sure if you should serve drinks in the cups you just dried, so how about I rewash them while _you_ wipe the tables with a _clean_ cloth."

A smile played at my lips when a little sprout of amusement took over the grump's face.

"Think you're the boss now, brat? Fine, rewash them all, I don't mind switching jobs for now. See if you can handle being the barkeep." He grinned wryly as he went to go fetch himself and me two clean cloths using the back door that connected his house to the bar, thus making this _extravagant_ place both our home and work.

Amused myself, I grinned at nothing in particular as I pushed myself from the bar counter to turn and face the _lively_ place with an entertained smile. It was roughly a quarter to six in the evening, and although the bar wasn't particularly rowdy at the moment, in another hour or so all the party drinkers will come spilling in and it will then be my time to shine as the newly appointed barkeep for today.

I enjoyed working with my old man; he was an entertaining fella that took me in when my parents ditched me to reunite with their dreams of becoming figures of justice when I was eight. Although I'm more masculine in behaviour due to being raised by a barkeep who usually serves the pirates that get rejected by other bars in town, I'm content with how I grew up.

A smirk slithered its way onto my lips at the remembrance of the day I finally chopped off my long brown hair that retained any physical signs of femininity when I was fourteen, a good three years ago. I had decided it was time I roughed it up because the pirates were really starting to get on my nerves with the constant deriding calls of "little girl", "cutie waitress" and "liquor princess" by those who dared to taunt me with their boisterous laughs and obnoxious comments. The old coot had shrugged nonchalantly at my change of heart, but he managed to crack a smile when he bluntly pointed out my crooked scissor technique and aided my hair by cutting it _somewhat_ neater. I've managed to maintain the scruffy concave bob style cut and wear more baggy clothing because I felt it suited the look of someone who works at a bar despite the balding hair and casual style my old man sustains.

A towel-like fabric smelling of linen fresh flopped down on my already messed hair. I plucked it from its' perched spot and observed in mild delight as the old timer went around the bar and began making his slow progress at carefully spraying and wiping down the sticky tables before "rush-hour" strikes.

Humming a pleased tune to myself rewarded me in rewashing the glasses at the sink a lot quicker than I had expected, so I distractedly wiped them clean and placed them on the shelf under the bar until an unfamiliar pair of eyes met mine the moment my head peaked up above the wooden surface of the bar.

Quickly realizing that the apathetic male was a customer I straightened myself before leaning against the counter and smiling, "What can I get ya?" I always enjoyed asking that on the rare occasions where I was free of being the ever-so accused "beer maid" and actually had the privilege of serving others at the counter instead while the old coot was busy doing something else.

_My_ customer simply nodded his head, "Just some sake."

I smiled at the order and grabbed for a glass, "Sure thing!"

Turning away from the green haired fella I scanned my eyes over the shelves on the wall behind the bar, looking for the large section of sake before finding it with a content smile and whisking it off the shelf to fill the glass sitting in front of the customer.

"Drink up," I mused.

A smile, albeit a bit slanted and resembling a smirk, broke out on the laid-back male's face as he gratefully hooked his fingers around the handle and leisurely brought the filled glass to his lips where he took an impulsive chug. The male was young, probably the same age as me, maybe older, but he certainly could finish a glass of alcohol in record time. Now if he was capable of handling his liquor he'd be great at a drinking contest.

He removed the glass from his lips, settling it down on the counter with a pleased sigh.

"That's the stuff!" He grinned before fixating his gaze on me briefly, "Another one, barkeep!"

I blinked, a bit taken off guard, before chuckling to myself, "You gotcha."

_Barkeep_, the word echoed repeatedly in my mind. I mentally grinned to myself as I poured the now loosened up male another drink.

Instead of guzzling down the drink this time, he paused with the glass at his lips, one eye closed while the other was now focused on me.

"Now that I think about it... Aren't you a little young to be a barkeep?" he asked.

"Aren't you young yourself?" I retorted simply, leaning against the bar on my forearms while inspecting his odd green hair, the three gold piercings dangling from his left ear and then down to the three katana resting on his hip. I raised my brows curiously, "So you're a swordsman? That's cool, I guess."

He nodded his head and placed down another empty cup in front of me. Wow, that was quick.

I lightly scoffed at him, "Another already? Are you _trying_ to get drunk fast? Where's the moderation these days, sheesh."

His eyes narrowed. "Just pour me another glass," he grumbled.

Complying with his demand I slowly refilled his glass this time, finding pleasure as he took notice of the rate at which I served him this time, eyes hardening once again when he took the drink wordlessly and brought it to his lips.

A smile played at my lips, "Grumpy potato. You and the old fart would get along just swell." I remarked casually.

"Shut up." he muttered.

Noting the tone screaming "you're really annoying" in his simple _demand_ made me slightly chafed. I wouldn't have minded if it was just a blunt "shut up", but by adding that slight emphasis caused a greater impact on those two words. And it irked me for many reasons, possibly because of Mr. Pear having tried to assault me previously left me a little incensed and I'm still cooling down from it; whatever really had me agitated though, caused my brows to knit together as I leaned closer to him, narrowing my own eyes on his somewhat irritated visage.

"You're the one with the drink, so bite your tongue and get yourself wasted, over-confident swordsman." The warm bubbles boiling inside my being hazed out any logical and rational reply I could have come up with instead.

Noticing the twitch of his brow however, caused a satisfied smile to play at my lips as I leaned a little back away from him.

"'Over-confident swordsman'? Should a barkeep really be picking fights with their customers?" he bit back _almost _calmly, but the vexed tinge and tightening of his jaw was a dead give away that I was positively annoying him.

At the inquiry though, I laughed to myself, subconsciously out loud for others around the bar to hear as well.

"This bar serves mainly _pirates_ for crying out loud! You need to have some attitude if you're gonna survive working in this place." I explained while flashing him an amused smirk.

His eyebrows rose while looking around and grumbling something along the lines of "Pirates, huh?" under his breath before resuming back to the unfinished beverage in his hands.

Although it was a rhetorical question to himself I still nodded my head before being invaded with sudden questions hitting me that I was just itching to ask. Some were more than likely stupid, and I really hated stupid questions myself, so in a moment of being a hypocrite I returned my attention to the swordsman awaiting another refill.

Bringing the bottle to his glass I asked, "So are you a pirate?"

He seemed to smirk at the question before grabbing hold of the glass, "Tch. No way in hell."

Okay, so technically I wasn't a hypocrite anymore now that I wasn't expecting that type of answer.

"Just a swordsman then?" I asked curiously.

He nodded his head.

"Why three swords? Can you even _use_ three swords? Because you're starting to sound like that pirate hunter that roams in these waters." I said more to myself than to him.

That seemed to amuse him, what with that slanted cross between a smile and smirk playing on his lips.

"Oh?" He raised the glass to his lips, "Pirate hunter, huh?"

I frowned at the lack of response. With his minimal usage of words, the fuse inside me was starting to light once again, finally beginning to become fed up with his lack of commitment to a decent conversation.

Rashly, I jutted an accusing finger in his face while glaring. "For crying out loud, a little more than just a few words in your reply would be nice! I'm trying to be friendly, but it appears I ultimately fail in that category when it comes to conceited others who I know nothing about, you egotistical swordsman!" I deprecated the sword-wielding veggie head.

If my glaring eyes were correct then the male was currently growing in impatience as his jaw tightened further and he screwed his eyes shut. Unfortunately for both of us, my short fuse was already relighted and I was ready to criticize this stranger some more.

"Wannabe swordsman that knows nothing of socializing or friendly and light conversations... You're going to end up lonely and sad at this rate, crying to yourself on a couch while chugging down glass after glass of alcohol until you're completely wasted and in a fabricated dreamland that your subconscious made to keep you from suicide..!" I was now grumbling this to myself as I unconsciously poured myself a glass of sake and took a swift swig at it.

"W-What?"

I ignored his low growl, opting to rudely point at him as I quickly finished the rest of my drink. I felt giddy inside; indulging in the buzzing feeling running through my body as my mind quickly became a little cloudy. At realization though, I mentally cursed myself, pushing the glass away but retaining a vice grip on the bottle. Somewhere inside me, the already intoxicated part was fighting my consciousness for more of this addictive libation.

I glared at the male for my current mental frustration, only half aware of how truly mad he was himself.

"Y-You heard me, you irritable vegetable!" I snapped.

"That's it!" he shouted, standing and slamming his hands down on the counter while leaning closer to shout in my face. "I don't even know you but you haven't gotten off my back since the moment I sat down here! Shut the hell up and do your job right!"

Offended, I took a step back to slowly reassess what he just yelled at me. Do my job right? That pompous bastard!

Mimicking his action of slamming my hands down on the bar counter I reeled myself closer to him to bark, "I _am_ doing my job right—YOU'RE JUST BEING AN UNRESPONSIVE AND UNFRIENDLY BASTARD TO MY ATTEMPTS AT LIGHT AND FRIENDLY CONVERSATION!"

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU WOULDN'T SHUT UP AND KEPT ASKING QUESTIONS EITHER WAY!"

"YEAH? WELL, THAT'S CALLED "GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER", MORON! ALSO, I'M _SUPPOSED_ TO BE CIVIL AND ASK ABOUT MY CUSTOMERS! IT'S ALSO VERY WELL KNOWN AS "CUSTOMER SERVICE", _IDIOT_."

He clenched his jaw for a moment, eyebrow twitching as he banged a fist down on the counter. "WHO THE HELL ASKED YOU TO EXPLAIN IT TO ME? I'M NOT AN IDIOT!"

"YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?" I fired back, unaware of the presence encountering us for I was too engrossed with harassing this stranger.

"Hey! Knock it off, you young whippersnappers! Don't make me drag you both to the floor by your ears!"

Before I was even fully capable of registering the gruff voice, a strong vice-like grip latched onto my right ear and the male's left ear, forcefully pulling our heads down to the bar's surface with a mind-numbing impact that racked my brain and thundered one extremely painful headache for many moments after. I didn't bother to lift my head after the intruder released his bruising hold on my abused ear, my head was too busy running an inner marathon that felt like it could go on forever. Much to my displeasure though, the swordsman seemed to recover quicker than me, barking at my old man that that indeed did hurt like hell and a few other things before crossing his arms and grumbling under his breath.

When the people in my head stopped spinning I groaned, grasping onto my head and slowly lifting it up just to catch sight of the smug smirk tainting the old fart's face.

I scowled at that complacent look, "Oh, so _now_ you show some consideration! _THANK_ YOU. I very much enjoyed that, you old coot."

He seemed to enjoy it at first, but that was only short lived. He folded his arms over his chest, his expression dropping as a prolonged sigh broke past his lips and his shoulders sagged. "You were disturbing the few customers we have." he stated wearily.

The bitterness I wanted to bite at someone was strong, but that exasperated tone made me understand that I've dealt my old man enough trouble for today. So instead, I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose and dropping against the counter in debilitated defeat.

Some shuffling was audible, and before I could lift my head I realized with a sheepish grin, that I was mentally being reprimanded for _still_ having a strong grasp on the bottle of sake despite the previous assault taken to my head. Gramp's fingers easily pried the bottle away, grumbling something incoherent under his breath and then fixated another glare on me.

"Not only are you seventeen and underage, you're also a lightweight. I recommend that you don't ever drink, you get drunk too easily. It's shameful." he oppressed with an indignant frown.

The swordsman across from me scoffed, a taunting smirk playing at his lips. Already anticipating the ridiculing words about to leave his condescending lips, I glared hatefully, hoping to make him back down with my mental will power alone. Unfortunately, that was but a mere hopeful wish.

"What kind of barkeep is a _lightweight_?" And then he had the decency to laugh.

I repressed the urge to seize his other ear and smash his head onto the counter repeatedly. Not only was I enraged that he made a mockery out of me, I was also grueling over the fact that even _myself _believed that it was only fair that he jeered and jab at me like I had spontaneously done so to him. A groan rumbled in my throat, but my conscience was lecturing me to keep it hidden and just sit their and take it like a man—even if I am biologically a female.

Gramp's had managed a short lived chuckle, squinting eyes opening to regard the amused swordsman with an apology. "Sorry for earlier, my granddaughter has a bit of an attitude." His eyes briefly flickered over to me before scoping out the veggie head with a wry grin, "Whatever you have had already is on the house, as is whatever else you're planning on having today."

Veggie head was pleased and surprised, his eyes widening slightly before a grin settled on his lips. "Really? Thanks."

I didn't even bother judging that, he was the one in charge after all. Besides, it's our sought of _customer service_. It's a fortunate thing that most of our customers are pirates with gold and whatnot; otherwise I'm sure I would have run the old coot out of business _long _ago with my unbalanced behaviour.

Just as the male was beginning to order me around for his fifth refill a couple of customers who had just entered had stumbled back, the middle one of the group pointing accusingly at veggie head and bellowing one sentence that didn't surprise me at all. Oh no, in actual fact, it caused me to deadpan and roll my eyes sardonically.

"I-Isn't that Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro?"

_Of course._

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_**A/N:**_ Well, I hope I at least kept some people right until the end of the chapter. As you may have noticed, I haven't given out the name of my main OC yet, the same goes for Gramps, who will continue to be called "old coot", "old timer", "old man" or whatever else I can come up with. For my main OC though, I had felt that I shouldn't give her name away as of yet, mainly because I wanted to explore her character more. And as you can see, she's got a short temper, sharp tongue, is irrational and is stubborn. Just _perfect_ for Zoro, ne? I enjoy writing her. xD

Oh, and I thought I should mention this before I forget! I will be using some Japanese terms in the story, like suffixes and names of things because I feel I should have some Japanese terms at the very least. I will also be putting a translation at the end of each chapter that has non-English words in case others don't know what they mean.

_Jiji_: It's just another form of calling someone 'Gramps'. Ace calls Garp by that and it really sticks once you trying saying it out loud to yourself. :P

I hope I haven't bored anyone to tears with this chapter, the next one _should_ be more interesting. It all depends on how I write it.

Reviews are loved, the same goes for constructive criticism. (:

- Elaine-Fading-Call going to get something to eat. Bye-bi~


	2. Karma Bares Its' Fangs

_Elaine wishes to say:_

It looks like this story will survive another chapter! Hoozah! It took a little while, but I hope the quality of writing is more bearable than the first chapter. I'm trying to write with the flow, and hopefully it starts to show the more I go on with this.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Judging by how I write, it should be very much obvious. I would bore the fans to tears... This will be the last disclaimer I post for the entire story, so just to clarify: The only thing I own here are my oc characters, the plot, the story and the idea.

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**.Barkeep.**

_...a One Piece fanfiction_

_By Elaine-Fading-Call...  
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**Chapter T W O  
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_"Karma Bares Its' Fangs"_

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At approximately seven minutes to seven o'clock a few pirates prepared to throw away their money and have a good drink stumbled in my gramp's bar. The middle one was grinning while he scoped out the eight others occupying the place, until his eyes rested on the back of one green haired male who had turned his head to bark at the old guy who runs this bar. The face, the hair colour, the clothing and the three katana resting at his hip dawned upon him with mild dread.

"I-Isn't that Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro?" he bellowed fearfully.

And just like that, it was as if someone just choked and died for everyone within the vicinity went dead silent. I was only quiet due to almost face-palming myself at the irony of it all. Previously I had just accused the male of resembling the pirate hunter of East Blue, and now all of a sudden the sobered customers are saying the same thing! Irony really is a wondrous thing...

Before the old coot or I could enter a word in, the intoxicated and sobered customers abruptly stood and encircled the aloof male calmly enjoying his glass of sake. Gramp's was pushed aside as deviously grinning pirates entered just outside of veggie head's personal bubble, but he coolly ignored them and instead laid his glass down and eyed me expectantly.

I frowned, raising an eyebrow at his suddenly sedated and composed behaviour, "You serious? You're going to ignore them? Some of them are drunk, like that pear to your left." I discreetly jabbed my thumb at the swaying gorilla who was laughing strangely to himself.

However, the man accused as Roronoa Zoro merely faced me with a crooked smile, not at all intimidated by the muscle-men crowding him. "Just pour me another, Barkeep."

I sighed as I turned around to fetch a new bottle of sake thanks to the old man plucking the previously used bottle from my fingers. I wasn't even drunk, just slightly buzzed and irrational because this vegetable's attitude ticks me off, that's all.

"YAHAHA, RORONOA, EH? THIS IS PERFECT! YAHAHAHA!"

"This bar serves pirates mainly, Pirate Hunter. It's rather stupid of you to calmly stroll in here!"

"This is great! If we get rid of him then our names will become even more well known across East Blue!"

Before I could even turn around with a new bottle in my hands a loud crash broke through the tension that had rose in the air. Swiveling around quickly my eyes scoped out the cause of said thunderous noise. Anger boiled beneath my skin as I followed the gaze of everyone else, fingers clutching tightly around the bottle to suppress my animosity for what my eyes were displaying. A pained groaned reached my ears from the victim laying in the rubble of a few broken chairs and tables. Drawing a line to where he was lead my eyes directly to Roronoa who was looking at me expectantly for another refill.

My eye twitched. "You expect me to be all fine and dandy when you destroy jiji's home?"

He merely sighed, eyes closing to respond, "I just defended myself. He's the one at fault."

That insolent..! I slammed the bottle down on the counter in front of him before I clutched my hands even tighter around it and broke the fine glass, fuming in my short temper with hands shaking in tightly clutched fists. Someone needed to teach this guy a lesson...

With eyes burning in rage I glanced impatiently at the brutes encircling the arrogant swordsman. "What are you pirates waiting for, huh?" I growled, "You're all just standing there like idiots! Well, hurry up and finish the fight you guys wanted to pick!"

It was as if a bell was signaled, giving them the pleasure of brandishing their weapons and attempting to threaten Roronoa. When he remained seated, back still faced to them, and instead, reaching for the bottle I laid on the counter, one of them got fed up and decided to thrust his sword down on him.

From the corner of my eyes I noticed the old coot sliding over the bar and hurrying towards me. However, I remained still when he called for me, silently observing as in a shear split second Roronoa unsheathed one katana and deflected the strike with ease. Surprised, a much bulkier male took the next go, laughing obnoxiously to himself as he flexed his muscles and adjusted his muscular strength in his swing. Alternately, Roronoa paid heed to the oncoming assault, swiftly standing from his seat to regard the pirates with a disperse of the sword once being gripped in the bulky guys hands, now soaring over their heads and landing blade point first into a table. Somewhere in my still conscious part of mind, I cursed this show-off a billion times, but unfortunately that was only mentally because I was far too absorbed in watching pirate after pirate dive into a short lived assail that seemed entirely pointless to the swordsman.

However, some of these pirates were intoxicated, and therefore stupid, stubborn enough to stand back up and face Roronoa once again. More furniture was broken in the midst, people were sent flying to and fro into fragile objects amongst the bar, as Roronoa stood his ground and awaited their advances. I almost forgot to breathe when a sword was thrown, Roronoa deflecting it with his swords, but cursing out loud when it went soaring behind him. My body went numb, while some sinister voice inside my head chided something about 'karma is finally biting back'.

"Lacey!"

I blinked, the call of my name sounding foreign to my ears, but it aided in pulling me back to the seriousness of the actual situation, to which a rough hand grabbed at me and forcefully dragged me to the ground. The sword, much to mine and the old coot's displeasure, probed into a few of our expensive liquor, shattering those bottles in the process of lodging itself into the wall. Briefly I wonder repeatedly in my mind, 'Why?'.

"Sorry!" Roronoa quickly shouted, the sound of him dispersing another sword and sending it flying to plunge into something else reaching my ears. "I'll finish this up quickly."

I spared a glance at the aging man beside me, noting his relieved expression as he gripped at his chest. Remembering about the sword that almost decapitated me sent chills down my spine, but it also made me grin somewhat comically despite the dangerous threat that could have killed me.

"Oi, jiji." I called, sitting back against the wall opposite the bar counter. Might as well kick back and relax a little. Roronoa sounded serious, and those pirates are weak as they are now, so the infamous Pirate Hunter should be enough to handle it.

Gramp's diverted his attention to me finally, dark eyes catching site of my expression before he sighed, somehow already anticipating the words I wanted to say.

I grinned, "What happened to "brat", "punk" or even "scruff"? If I recall correctly, you had just addressed me by my name and you hardly ever do that!"

The grump averted his gaze from me, slowly standing himself and flickering his eyes over his bar, fists curling tightly by his side as a final crash resounded and suddenly there was no more clashing of swords or outraged cries. Just a questioning and curious silence remained. Despite having been ignored, I was curious myself to know if Roronoa really dealt with it like he had said he would.

Standing myself and avoiding hitting my head on the shelves, I shifted my gaze up to assess the current situation. Dark orbs and a sheepish smirk stood out as the male seated himself back down and resumed his previous task of pouring himself a drink. The whole scene behind him made me speechless.

"The bar's a complete wreck!"

Or so I would have loved to believe...

Roronoa chuckled to himself, ignoring the furious glare I was currently trying to kill him with. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that... But hey, these guys have bounties, so that should cover for the damage, right?"

That was true. They were pirates who enjoyed flaunting their names and money around, and if we checked their pockets too, there may be enough money all up, though that only depends on the size of their bounties. After all, I'm quite informed with known pirates, especially ones in these waters, and yet, I can't even recall any names of the guys Roronoa just took out.

"No can do." Gramp's voice broke through my thoughts.

Confusion swiped at me when I watched as the old man went over to the unconscious pirates and began carefully sitting them up and tending to them. Some groaned aloud as they came to quicker than others, Gramp's calmly going around the bar and pulling out whatever weapon had lodged itself into the walls or furniture.

"You know my motto, scruff." he finally continued.

Realization dawned upon me, my body relaxing as a grin broke out on my face. Same old man as always, he never forgets that motto of his.

"No matter who they are, or what sinful or troubled backgrounds they carry, a customer is a customer and you don't kick them out. _Especially _if they're carrying loads of cash on them, greedy jiji." I nodded my head to finalize it, smirking when I caught sight of the consenting smile on the old coot's face.

The sound of a glass being placed down on the counter before me had lead my eyes to a sighing Roronoa.

"I don't mind your motto, but how are you going to repair this place if you won't use the money on their heads?" he asked.

Now that inquiry wracked my brain. We had our savings fund and the cash stored in the register, but they each have their own individual uses. Gramp's savings fund stood for what he would like to achieve before death, traveling to island after island and following the route that lead him and grandma to meet for the first time, so that way he can scatter her cremated remains in the way he dreamed. Why he would need so much money however, he would only grin secretively whenever I had asked. It seems to me that he has a few cunning ideas up his sleeves.

My savings fund however, exists for my own personal dream that I promised Gramp's four years ago. I try not to think about it though, because I really don't feel like getting my hopes up _until_ I've collected enough money to get me going. Besides, it's not really something I enjoy flaunting about because it always ends up—

"We'll rebuild everything broken from scratch." Gramp's voice penetrated my thoughts once again.

Repeating his statement seemed to take me a while to dwell upon. However, when it did settle in, the urge to fall face first to the ground was very tempting at this point. The old coot was determined, the resolute expression and contemplating gesture with a hand hooked underneath his chin as he inspected everything that would need to be replaced, I groaned aloud just by thinking about my very close future up ahead.

"Naturally of course, because you were careless, Roronoa Zoro, you are helping." Gramp's finalized.

As veggie head went wide-eyed, hurriedly turning around to ask if the old man was serious while spluttering out other incoherent nonsense, I could only grin in satisfaction. At least we've got his strength to help, and it's much to his distaste too, so that naturally adds onto my self-satisfaction.

Deciding to play along, I outstretched my arm to him and grinned, "Name's Lacey, Conall Lacey! Pleasure to have you helping us, swordsman!"

Because I was being dragged into something I didn't start (for once), I was _so _going to enforce all the manual labour and tiring jobs upon him while I sit back with a big ole grin on my face. And what's better, is that I can already picture it perfectly in my mind right now.

* * *

_**A/N: **_Well, there you have it, it's shorter than the first chapter, but the second chapter is completed. Also, yes, the star of this story is named Lacey Conall, or Conall Lacey, because I put Zoro's last name first and all to follow the Japanese way of setting out names. Conall means "strong wolf" from an Irish, Scottish, Gaelic and Celtic origin. Putting a name like that next to a name that can mean a delicate thread, lace-like material, I thought it created some nice contrast. And besides, I tend to like how it sounds with a Japanese tongue, Konaru Reishī. And yes, as you can see, I do tend to also spend time conjuring up names. I don't know why, but I just do. xD

A big thanks to those who favourited and added my story to their alerts! And even bigger thanks to those who reviewed for the first chapter:

_Meiya Soku_, _Evalyd Yamazaki_, _MICKEYMAN_ and an _anonymous reviewer._ Thank you guys a bunch, I hope this chapter wasn't as wordy as the first. And Meiya Soku, I know what you mean. I'll try to smoothly flow my story into this type of writing style. Thank you guys for your help. (:

Reviews and constructive criticism will always be loved. (:

- Elaine-Fading-Call going to go read some manga. Ta-ta~


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